Indiana Pacers Cancel Game at Last Minute

By J.M. Nicholas

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

At the last minute, the Indiana Pacershave decided to postpone their Wednesday night match-up against the Chicago Bullsat Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Due to a blizzard that hit Indiana in the early morning hours on Wednesday, the game has been called off. This announcement follows several reports to the contrary that have been coming from the NBAfor much of the day.

For various reasons, the post-Christmas postponement will force the league to reschedule Wednesday night’s game. This decision comes as a surprise, due to the fact that the announcement came after much of the Bankers Life Fieldhouse staff (as well as both teams’ players and coaches) were already in attendance at the venue, in preparation for the game. There is nothing wrong with trying to act on the side of caution, but this move could have been made much earlier in the day, when most other businesses and companies were announcing their closures because of the storm.

The biggest issue of missing tonight’s game is the fact of trying to reschedule it. The NBA season is already tightly knit as it is, with most teams playing right up until the NBA Playoffs begin. Now, as it stands, a late December game between the two top teams in the Central division will have to be played sometime in March. It will make for a much-more interesting and eventful game, that could very well decide who wins this division. On top of that, both the Pacers and the Bulls are currently missing their star players, but both expect to be back in action around the beginning of the new year.

Yes, this decision might make for more excitement late in the season, but also shakes up a lot of things for a lot of people right now. At press time, no official statement has been offered by the NBA or the organization, but the choice doesn’t seem as odd as the timing of it. Perhaps the NBA needs to take a hint from most schools, churches, and businesses in snowy areas, and watch the weather earlier in the day.